August 2022 Digest — Whiskery Turnip

Aug 31

Aug 31 August 2022 Digest

Welcome to a brief wrap-up of reviews from August 2022! I always kick around this idea of doing monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly retrospectives, but I never seem to get them written. So here I am, trying something new after I got such good feedback on my weekend brief collections of abbreviated reviews. I am sure this will evolve as I go along and figure out just how to encapsulate a month’s worth of reviews.

It was a busy month around the Whisky Turnip house so let us begin with a few numbers.

34 reviews
5.85 average score
12.7 Years average age

A productive month! One that saw me return to my roots with some Islay shelf staples, indulge in some recent K&L releases, clear my backlog of Auchroisk, and taste my first whiskies from the demolished Imperial Distillery and a single malt from Boulder Spirits in the US.

Here are a few standouts from the pack:

Best of the Month

The fantastic Ballechin 16 Year bottled by WhiskySponge for the Edradourian Knights fan club was the bottle of the month, followed closely by an 18 Year old Ballechin also from Whisky Sponge. I have always wanted to try a Ballechin with some additional age and in a refill cask— I love those heavily sherried young ones, but this just took affairs to a new level, just as I had hoped. As I wrote in my review, the glass always seemed to disappear before I finished taking notes— it was so good my subconscious just took over. More like this, please!

Value of the Month

Leave it to K&L to secure absolutely incredible pricing for their single cask selections— I cannot believe that people picked up this remarkable 12-year Mortlach from Hunter Laing for under $60. It was everything you want from a young sherried Mortlach as the meaty spirit held its own against an assertive sherry butt. Oranges, spices, bacon, and quince all took their turn in the driverʻs seat in this multi-layered and well-integrated whisky. I wrote that this whisky was “sure to dazzle the senses,” and I stand by it— while sherry-forward profiles are not my preference, when they are this good, even I can appreciate them.

Surprise of the Month

I have not had a lot of luck with whiskies from the Spanish outfit at Liber Distillery. I did not care for previous releases— they were just not to my taste, and the style felt aggressively sulfurous and dirty. The distillery has its defenders on Whiskybase, and I am glad some people properly appreciate the whisky for what it is.

So I had pretty low expectations when I sat down to finally review a 16 Year bottled for the Spanish Whisky Club. Lo and behold, I thought this was pretty nice! It was still a tad earthy and funky for my taste, but those notes felt better integrated with the rest of the experience. It might not be appropriate for anyone sensitive to sulfur notes in whisky, but Liber is worth a look for the adventurous.

A full list of reviews can be found below: